This post includes 5 things about Maria and her work:

Maria van Oosterwyck was a well-known and successful flower painter during the Dutch Golden Age of Painting, but as a woman, she couldn’t even join the artists’ guild.

Read on to learn about Maria and her beautiful flower still lifes, and why they’re called Vanitas paintings.

• A bio of Maria van Oosterwyck
• Information about Maria’s paintings, and how tulipmania and red admiral butterflies figure in her work
  
• Activities to help you and your children enjoy the paintings
• A kid-friendly devotion based on the paintings
• At the end is some background information. It’s not essential to enjoy Maria’s art, but it will help you better understand the art of this time and give you curriculum connections for this series.

The Artist

Portrait of Maria van Oosterwyck holding a Bible and a paint palette, by Wallerant Vaillant, public domain

Maria van Oosterwyck was born in a small town near Delft in 1630. Both her father and grandfather were Protestant ministers, and Maria’s faith was central to her life and work. No one knows for sure where she first learned to paint. We do know that later Maria lived in several other cities and studied with flower and still life artists. In 1666 she moved to Amsterdam and set up her own studio.

Despite having to work and sell outside the artist’s guild, Maria sold paintings for high prices. In 1669 Cosimo d’Medici bought one of her paintings, bringing her international attention.  Kings of France, England, and the Holy Roman Emperor all bought her paintings.

Maria never married, dedicating herself to her art. After retiring in 1690, she went to live with a nephew who was a minister. She died at his home near Amsterdam in 1693.

Although not widely known today, Maria van Oosterwyck’s paintings appear in many museum collections.

The Paintings 

Maria followed the Netherlandish traditions of close observation of details and attention to the effects of light on objects. She loved to show reflections in glass, the nubbly texture of leather book covers, and the sheen of satin ribbon. Maria’s portrayal of plants and insects is accurate enough for a naturalist’s work.

Roses and Butterfly by Maria van Oosterwyck, Crocker Art Museum, public domain

Look at Maria’s paintings and see how items emerge from the shadows of the dark background and so appear even brighter. We see this same dramatic use of light and shadow in the work of Rembrandt, Maria’s contemporary. Also notice the light blue reflection of a window in the glass vase.

Flower Still Life by Maria van Oosterwyck, Cincinnati Art Museum, public domain

Maria applied paint thinly and blended colors into one another. She liked to put complementary colors next to each other to increase contrast–red flowers behind green leaves, yellow flowers next to violet flowers, and blue and orange flowers next to each other.

Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase by Maria van Oosterwyck, Denver Art Museum, public domain

Go to this link and enlarge  Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase, to see these details.https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/edu/object/bouquet-flowers-vase

The Dutch loved variety in still lifes, so most flower paintings have flowers from different seasons. Maria studied and drew the flowers when they were in season, then put them together in the final paintings.

Tulipmania: in the 1600s flowers were rare and expensive. Seeds and bulbs had to be imported, so only wealthier people could afford flower gardens.

• Flowers, especially tulips, became a status symbol. When Maria was a child, tulip bulbs that might produce striped or speckled petals became so popular, that prices rose to crazy levels–as much as a house. The stripes and speckles were actually caused by a fungus on the bulbs!
• Tulipmania lasted only a short time, but a few people lost small fortunes speculating with tulip bulbs!
• Flower paintings were much more affordable, and the flowers didn’t die. Notice that Maria often has a red-striped tulip—one of the really expensive kinds—in her still lifes.

Vanitas Paintings

With her flowers, Maria often included glassware, musical instruments, coins, globes, shells, books, insects, and skulls. Each item shows careful attention.

Vanitas-Still Life by Maria van Oosterwyck, Kunsthistorisches Museum, public domain

Vanitas with Sunflower and Jewelry Box by Maria van Oosterwyck, public domain

Because of trade many could afford luxuries, such as oranges, furs, and porcelain from around the world. These paintings showed off the wealth of the Dutch during the 1600s.

But they did more. When a still life had insects, skulls, chewed leaves, half-eaten foods, wilted flowers,etc., it became a Vanitas—a painting meant to remind viewers that life and worldly possessions are fleeting.

Maria went a step further, almost always including a red admiral butterfly to lead you into the painting and represent the resurrection of Christ and eternal life for those who believe in Him.

Red Admiral Butterfly: the red admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta), along with the related painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) are among the most common butterflies in the world.

• They live on every continent except Antarctica.
• They’re medium-sized butterflies whose caterpillars can live on many different plants.
• Admirals and painted ladies migrate, but they have kind of a rolling migration. As winter approaches, they begin flying south laying eggs as they go. Soon those eggs hatch and that generation continues south, and so on until some reach warmer places where they live and breed year round. When spring arrives, the process reverses, and they repopulate northern climates. Some years they leave or arrive in such large groups that they show up on weather radar.

Activities to Help You and Your Children further Explore these Beautiful Paintings

• I always like to first ask children what they think is going on in a painting, and what tells them that. This grabs their interest and makes them feel their ideas are valuable. You’ll often be surprised by their observations. And you can enhance their observational and verbal skills by rephrasing words and adding new vocabulary.
• Play an I Spy game to find butterflies, foods, books, different flowers, reflections, etc.
• Or, try this fun activity: have children look at the painting briefly, then turn away and tell all the things they remember. With a group have each one write down what they remember and then compare answers.

Devotion

Ask children what things the Dutch liked to include in still lifes. Remind them that flowers and other items in Maria’s still lifes were luxuries and so became very important. Then have them gather or draw things they would put in a still life to tell important things about themselves and why.

1. Discuss how our interests, skills, and possessions are all gifts from God.   “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17 NIV)
2. Discuss how these should be used to love God and our neighbors.   “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mathew 22:37-39 NIV)
3.  What is one way they could use a skill or possession to show love to another?
4. Ask children what things in each of Maria’s Vanitas paintings remind us material things don’t last.  ” The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8 NIV)
5. Then ask what they might put in their still life as reminders that life is fleeting—a broken toy, an insect perched on a bowl of cereal, etc.
6. Maria also put in a butterfly to stand for Christ’s resurrection and eternal life for those who believe in Him. Discuss with children why a butterfly has long been a symbol of the resurrection.
   

   author photo of swallowtail butterfly perched on lilacs

Here’s some information about butterflies that may help your discussion:   At one time people didn’t know about the life cycle changes of insects, frogs, etc. But during Maria van Oosterwyck’s life, many were studying and learning more about nature. Another woman artist who also lived in the Netherlands at this time, studied and painted butterflies, helping people learn about their life cycle.

• Maria Sybylla Merian
  

  Maria Sibylla Merian
  public domain, wikimedia

  proved that a butterfly begins as an egg, hatches into a hungry caterpillar, and then forms a chrysalis to complete the change into a butterfly.

  

  Maria Sibylla Merian’s work
  public domain, wikimedia

  You can learn more about her life and work in this post I wrote in June of 2018, called, Artists/Naturalists: Maria Sybilla Merian and Titian Ramsay Peale II.

Chrysalis, public domain

• Scientists now know the change from caterpillar to butterfly is even more profound than anyone thought. Inside each chrysalis a caterpillar actually liquifies and every part is completely rearranged to produce a butterfly.The caterpillar, which is often ugly and must crawl along leaves, becomes a beautiful new creation that can fly!
• If you’ve never raised caterpillars and watched this process, you and your children will love it! Order monarch, red admiral, or painted lady caterpillars online and watch them grow, form chrysalises, and emerge as adults. Then enjoy releasing them to fly away into the sky, just as Jesus did at His ascension!!!

What a wonderful and amazing picture for us of Christ’s resurrection, ascension, and our resurrection into eternal life! Here are some verses to read together:

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:20 NIV).

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight (Acts 1:9 NIV).

For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. Tor the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality . . . (1 Cor. 15:52b-54a NIV).

Prayer  Heavenly Father, thank you for Your Word, which endures forever and teaches us about Jesus our Savior, and His death and resurrection. Thank you that one day we will be resurrected also, and you’ve given us such an amazing picture of that transformation in butterflies! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Historical Background  

Some background of the religious, political, economic, and art history of the Netherlands is helpful to understand the amazing Golden Age of Dutch art and Maria’s work. I’ve just given brief descriptions. Homeschoolers may wish to use these as jumping off places for more research for reports, diaries, plays, charts, timelines, etc.

Dutch Faith   Important forerunners of the Reformation came from the Netherlands.

• The Beguines were women who banded together in cites and towns to study Scripture and volunteer as teachers and nurses for the poor. Many groups formed in the Netherlands in the 1200s.
  

  Drawing of a Beguine from Des dodes dantz, printed in Lubeck, 1489, public domain

• The Brethren of the Common Life opened schools and printed Bibles and other books from the 1300s on. The Netherlands had a higher literacy rate than many other European countries. Thomas a Kempis, who wrote The Imitation of Christ, was a member of this group.
• Erasmus of Rotterdam (1467-1536) wrote of the need for religious reform and produced the first Greek New Testament.

When the Reformation began, Protestantism really took hold in the Netherlands, but persecution followed:

Dutch Independence    Charles V (the same one who presided over Luther’s trial in Germany) and later his son Philip II ruled the Netherlands as part of their empire. They were determined to stamp out Protestantism in the Netherlands. Terrible persecution killed many, and the Dutch rebelled to gain religious and political freedom. The war was long and harsh. Sometimes the Dutch opened dykes to flood farmland or burned crops as part of the fight. One group of fighters known as the Sea Beggars helped win battles against the Spanish fleet.

Battle of Haarlem by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, public domain

Dutch Economy    After independence in the early 1600s, trade and commerce grew rapidly in the Netherlands. Dutch traders traveled to Asia and America. They established the colony of New Amsterdam (New York) in 1624. They brought back spices, furs, Turkish rugs, and silks, making the Dutch among the wealthiest people in Europe.

One much-loved luxury was Chinese porcelain, especially the blue and white-patterned vases and table ware. Eventually the Dutch learned the art of making this and today “Delft” dishes and vases are still very popular! Which one of van Oosterwyck’s still lifes has a blue and white piece?

author photo

 

Dutch Art   Oil paints were first invented and used by early Netherlandish artists, such as Jan van Eyck. Northern European artists became masters of close observation of every detail and loved to show how light reflected off glass or metal. They carefully painted every facet of a jewel or the softness of a fur collar.

Protestant churches no longer commissioned art, but independence and trade enabled ordinary Dutch people to buy paintings. They loved to decorate their homes and businesses with still lifes, landscapes, portraits, and scenes of everyday life. Dutch artists often specialized in one type or another, and the Golden Age of Dutch Art was born. It encompassed most of the 1600s, and some of the most famous artists—Rembrandt, Ruisdael, and Vermeer!

Molly and I hope you enjoyed learning about Maria van Oosterwyck and all the amazing events that surround the artists of the Golden Age of Dutch Art! Comment and tell us what you found most interesting or enjoyable.

And we hope to see you right back here soon for a fun art activity about tulips and butterflies!

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Good Friday and Easter Paintings of the Isenheim Altarpiece

Like Notre Dame the Isenheim Altarpiece has been through many dangerous times since its creation in the 1500s, but it has survived to remind us of Christ’s death and resurrection!

On Good Friday and Easter we remember and celebrate that, “ . . .the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28.

 

In Grunewald’s crucifixion panel, darkness is the backdrop for one of the most moving crucifixions in all of Western Art. “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’” John 19:30.  He then committed His spirit to His Father and died.

On the left Mary, who in the Christmas Picture,  looked with such love on her baby, now looks with anguish at her dead son. John and Mary Magdalen show the intense grief and shock that all the disciples must have felt. Is there any hope?

Yet, even in this darkest hour, Grunewald gives his viewers hope. On the right the artist has shown John the Baptist with a lamb at his feet and holding an open Bible as he points to Jesus.

Long before, when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, God had them choose a lamb to bring into their homes for 4 days.

Look at these parallels

• John heralded Jesus’ coming when he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” John, John 1:29. Jesus then preached and ministered among the Israelites for 3 or 4 years.
• He entered Jerusalem on the day the Passover lambs were chosen, (Palm Sunday) and was crucified 4 days later.

On that original Passover the Israelites killed the lambs after the 4 days and put their blood on the doorposts and lintel of their homes so that when the angel of death passed through the land that night, he would Pass Over any home with the blood of a lamb over its doorway.

Each year Jewish people were to look back and reenact that event that freed them from earthly slavery, but God also meant for Passover to look ahead to Christ’s coming, when He, as the perfect Lamb of God, would give Himself for us, shedding His blood on the cross, so we can be freed from an even worse slavery–slavery to sin, and fear of death.

So John holds a Bible and points to Jesus to show that Jesus came to die according to God’s wise and loving plan. To further emphasize this truth, the lamb at his feet holds a cross.  Jesus gave Himself as the perfect and once and for all sacrifice for our sins, so we can be forgiven and reconciled to God.

“O Sacred Head, Now Wounded”

1. O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
   Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown;
   O sacred Head, what glory, what bliss till now was Thine!
   Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call Thee mine.
2. What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain;
   Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
   Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ’Tis I deserve Thy place;
   Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.
3. What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
   For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
   O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
   Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee

lyrics in public domain

Next we look under the crucifixion to a small scene showing the disciples preparing Jesus’ body for burial in a white shroud. There is no life in Him, and at the end of the day on Friday, His disciples buried Him. Again there seems to be no hope.

Then comes Sunday, Easter, and

In Grunewald’s final panel, we see a most beautiful and amazing resurrection scene. Jesus has risen in power and glory from the grave; the guards have fallen in fear and awe. They and the stone could not hold Him, and neither could death. His body, once so pale and marred by death, is now alive with warmth though His wounds still show.

The cold, white shroud of death has turned to warm reds, oranges, and yellows as Jesus rises from the grave. He has defeated Satan and death so that we can be saved to live forever with God.

Put down your burdens of sins, of regrets, of striving to be good enough, and accept the free gift of forgiveness and salvation that God longs to give you when you humble yourself to accept Christ. Hallelujah, He is risen! 

 

 

The two photos of paintings from the Isenheim Altarpiece were taken by the author.

The next kathythepicturelady post will be devotional to go along with my series on Monet’s cathedrals and haystacks.